Fondazione Museo del Violino Antonio Stradivari

Cremona

Piazza Marconi, 5 26100 Cremona - Italy

Tel (+ 39) 0372 801801 Fax (+39) 0372 801888

info@museodelviolino.org www.museodelviolino.org

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Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10 am - 6 pm (closed Monday) Ticket office: Tel (+39) 0372 080809 - Booking: Tel (+39) 0372 801801 mail: marketing@museodelviolino.org - schools: edu@museodelviolino.org Audioguides A detailed audioguide and multimedia stations in every room accompany visitors on their journey through the world of string instruments, allowing them to develop their own flexible itineraries and permitting both laypeople and expert connoisseurs to find new material and new inspiration for further investigation. The audioguide, available in English or Italian, is provided free at the entrance. Guided tours Specialist guides are available to show visitors around the museum in English, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese. Booking is essential Children At the Museo del Violino, even the youngest visitors can discover precious and unusual musical instruments and curious objects with a touch of magic about them. A special multimedia itinerary reveals the fascinating skill of violinmakers, who today, just as in the past, can take wood and varnishes prepared with special alchemy and draw from them a sound as sweet and melodious as the human voice. Workshops and education The MdV offers a wide range of educational activities and workshops for children and teenagers, exploring the fascinating world of Cremonese string instruments and the craftsmen and women who made them. The themed tours and programmes are differentiated by age and skill level, allowing everyone to discover the pleasure of discovery and learning though fun and enjoyable activities. Booking is essential

CLOAKROOM Free, located near the ticket office. Umbrellas and large rucksacks and bags must be deposited. TICKETS Entrance tickets for the museum and concert tickets can be bought online through Vivaticket or in person at the ticket office. ACCESSIBILITY There are no architectural barriers in the museum, and all areas can be accessed with a wheelchair using the lifts provided. The museum includes a section for the blind and visually impaired, with information in Braille. WI-FI Wi-Fi is available throughout the museum. The password is available on request. PHOTOGRAPHY Amateur photography, with no flash or tripods, is allowed in the museum. Audio or video recording is not permitted during recitals. BOOKSHOP Cremonabooks, located near the exit, allows you to purchase mementos of your visit to the Museo del Violino, including books, posters, CDs and souvenirs. CAFE, RESTAURANT and LOUNGE BAR Chiave di Bacco is a welcoming space for hungry visitors, open from breakfast through to after-dinner drinks. TOILETS Toilets are located on the basement floor. Baby changing facilities are also available. ANIMALS Four-legged friends are only allowed into the museum in specially designed carriers or bags. PARKING There is ample street-level and underground car parking available for those visiting the museum by car.

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There is an indissoluble and ancient connection between Cremona and violinmaking. In 2013 the Museo del Violino (MdV) added a wonderful new page to this long history which, thanks to the insight and generous contribution of the Arvedi-Buschini Foundation, provides an important structure for the international community – a museum, auditorium and research centre rolled into one. It is somewhere that not only celebrates the greatness of the past, but also focuses on the present, offering a real journey through time that explores the world of violinmaking right up to its most recent developments. At the MdV visitors can discover five centuries of violinmaking in Cremona through direct contact with the city’s great violinmakers – Amati, Stradivari and Guarneri – and their masterpieces. Thanks to the collections of the Municipality of Cremona and the Walter Stauffer Foundation, the wonderful objects entrusted to the city through the ‘friends of Stradivari’ network, and the moulds and original tools donated primarily by Giuseppe Fiorini, visitors can trace the complete history of classical Cremonese violinmaking as

they move from room to room. The twentieth century is represented through an exhibition of the instruments that won the 1937 National Competition and the International "Triennale" Violin Making Competition, known since 1976 as the Violinmaking Olympics. Finally, the museum also devotes a significant amount of space to contemporary master violinmakers from Cremona, whose work ensures violinmaking today is more relevant, alive and vibrant than ever before. But the museum is not limited to simply displaying precious items – it also offers opportunities to delve further into the subject at various levels, with workshops, conferences and exhibitions organised, and recitals and concerts held in the wonderful Auditorium Giovanni Arvedi, allowing the masterpieces of classical violinmaking to take centre stage. A collection unlike any other anywhere else on Earth, multimedia installations, a wealth of documentary displays and concerts featuring historic instruments promise an exciting and enthralling visit for all, in which instruments, sounds and images converge to give rise to stories, dreams and emotions.

Stories and emotions from five centuries of Cremonese violinmaking

The Sound of Stradivari The Museo del Violino gives you the chance to listen to talented soloists playing the wonderful instruments built by Stradivari, Amati and Guarneri, offering an experience of unforgettable poetry. The natural setting for these masterpieces is the Auditorium Giovanni Arvedi, a unique place where the architecture aims to ‘capture’ the sound and translate it into images, turning music, immaterial by nature, into something tangible. Permanent and ephemeral therefore meet in a timeless dialogue, in the place that celebrates Cremona’s great violinmaking tradition.

Room 1 - The origins of the violin How and when did the violin come into being? Which instruments preceded it? What determined the appearance of the new instrument and its success over time? This exhibition uncovers the phases leading up to the birth of the violin and its spread across northern Italy and into the most important European courts, particularly France at the time of Catherine de’ Medici.

Room 2 - The violinmaker’s workshop How is a violin made? How many parts does it have, and what are they? What materials, tools and techniques are used? This room looks at the technical aspects of making a violin, from the tree to the finished instrument.

Room 3 - The spread of the violin When did the violin spread across Europe and the world? Where did it all start? Which nations have been the most active in violinmaking and for how long? This room presents a historical view of the spread of the violin throughout the world, from the early sixteenth century to the twentieth century.

- How the violin and bow are made Split into three sections and with 72 items to admire, this is an exciting visual and tactile exploration of the instrument, from the choice of wood to the varnish applied to the finished instrument. It has been created with special consideration for blind or visually impaired visitors, including an introduction and captions in braille

- Immersive Audio What would it sound like to be sat amidst the rows of players in an orchestra or among the musicians in a quartet? A dome with 24 loudspeakers at the centre of the room projects the sound field of a musical performance, recorded using ‘3D audio’ techniques (near-field ambisonics), providing a unique and unforgettable experience for visitors, who are enveloped naturally by the sounds.

Room 4 - Classical Cremonese violinmaking How did the great classical Cremonese school of violinmaking develop? Who were the main figures and what was the context in which they worked? Why are Stradivari’s instruments famous all over the world? This room provides an introduction to the history of Cremonese violinmaking and the activities of the famous violinmaking families.

Room 5 - The treasure box The most important instruments from the collection of the Municipality of Cremona and the Walter Stauffer Foundation, made by the great classical Cremonese masters, are displayed in this room. They include famous instruments by Antonio Stradivari, such as the 1715 ‘Cremonese’ violin and others by various members of the Amati and Guarneri families.

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o Room How and when did the violin come into being? Which instruments preceded it? What determined the appearance of the new instrument and its success over time? This exhibition uncovers the phases leading up to the birth of the violin and its spread across northern Italy and into the most important European courts, particularly France at the time of Catherine de’ Medici.

Room How is a violin made? How many parts does it have, and what are they? What materials, tools and techniques are used? This room looks at the technical aspects of making a violin, from the tree to the finished instrument.

Room When did the violin spread across Europe and the world? Where did it all start? Which nations have been the most active in violinmaking and for how long? This room presents a historical view of the spread of the violin throughout the world, from the early sixteenth century to the twentieth century.

and bow are made Split into three sections and with 72 items to admire, this is an exciting visual and tactile exploration of the instrument, from the choice of wood to the varnish applied to the finished instrument. It has been created with special consideration for blind or visually impaired visitors, including an introduction and captions in braille

- What would it sound like to be sat amidst the rows of players in an orchestra or among the musicians in a quartet? A dome with 24 loudspeakers at the centre of the room projects the sound field of a musical performance, recorded using ‘3D audio’ techniques (near-field ambisonics), providing a unique and unforgettable experience for visitors, who are enveloped naturally by the sounds.

Room violinmaking How did the great classical Cremonese school of violinmaking develop? Who were the main figures and what was the context in which they worked? Why are Stradivari’s instruments famous all over the world? This room provides an introduction to the history of Cremonese violinmaking and the activities of the famous

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Room 6 - The Stradivarian artefacts How did Antonio Stradivari make his instruments? What tools did he use? And what technique? We can answer these questions thanks to the more than 1000 objects, including drawings, moulds and tools, passed down to us directly from Antonio Stradivari’s workshop, most of which were donated to the Municipality of Cremona in 1930 by the violinmaker Giuseppe Fiorini.

Room 7 - Cremona 1937. The National Violinmaking Competition What remained in the twentieth century of the lessons imparted by Stradivari, Amati and Guarneri? In 1937 the National Contemporary Violinmaking Competition Exhibition was organised as part of celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the death of Antonio Stradivari. The top three instruments in each category of the competition (violin, viola, violoncello, double bass and quartet) formed the basis for the newly created Museo della Liuteria Moderna (Museum of Modern Violinmaking). Today they provide an important testimony of twentieth-century Italian violinmaking. The room is also used for temporary exhibitions.

Room 3: The spread of the violin Room 5: The treasure box

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Room 8 - The Triennale Violin Making Competition Since 1976, the International "Triennale" Violin Making Competition has awarded prizes to the best contemporary instruments, judged by a jury of violinmakers and musicians. The Permanent Collection of Contemporary Violinmaking brings together in this hall the winning violins, violas, cellos and double basses from each competition over the years.

Room 9 - friends of Stradivari Since 2009, the Stradivari Foundation has promoted the ‘friends of Stradivari’ network, a global group of people who play, collect, study or simply love the old Cremonese stringed instruments. As part of this cultural project, instruments made by Cremona’s most famous violinmakers from public and private collections are temporarily displayed in the museum, where they can be admired and listened to in moving and unique concerts.

- The iconography of Stradivari What was the true face of Antonio Stradivari? Did he have the jovial appearance painted by Bernardino de Ho, the charisma imagined by Adolphe Mouilleron, or the look of a simple craftsman, as depicted by Alessandro Rinaldi? The great violinmaker has sparked the creativity of artists from the eighteenth century through to the present day, their portraits blending myth and reality.

Room 10 - Giuseppe Fiorini conference room Video clips from concerts given in the Auditorium Giovanni Arvedi allow visitors to hear the sounds of some of the most important historic instruments in the Museo del Violino’s collections. Meanwhile, on the walls, profiles of Cremona’s violinmakers recount tales of the profession, showing how violinmaking is a precious cultural resource for the city, an expression of its authenticity and a competitive advantage that is impossible to replicate elsewhere.

F o u n d i n g M e m b e r s

Since 1976, the International "Triennale" Violin Making Competition has awarded prizes to the best contemporary instruments, judged by a jury of violinmakers and musicians. The Permanent Collection of Contemporary Violinmaking brings together in this hall the winning violins, violas, cellos and double

Since 2009, the Stradivari Foundation has promoted the ‘friends of Stradivari’ network, a global group of people who play, collect, study or simply love the old Cremonese stringed instruments. As part of this cultural project, instruments made by Cremona’s most famous violinmakers from public and private collections are temporarily displayed in the museum, where

What was the true face of Antonio Stradivari? Did he have the jovial appearance painted by Bernardino de Ho, the charisma imagined by Adolphe Mouilleron, or the look of a simple craftsman, as depicted by Alessandro Rinaldi? The great violinmaker has sparked the creativity of artists from the eighteenth

Video clips from concerts given in the Auditorium Giovanni Arvedi allow visitors to hear the sounds of some of the most important historic instruments in the Museo del Violino’s collections. Meanwhile, on the walls, profiles of Cremona’s violinmakers recount tales of the profession, showing how violinmaking is a precious cultural resource for the city, an expression of its authenticity and a competitive advantage that

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Room 4: Classical Cremonese violinmaking

Photo above: Room 9 - friends of Stradivari Photo below: Room 10 - meeting and conference roomPh

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